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The West needs a new approach to nuclear arms control

“Nuclear disarmament” has always sounded better in theory than in practice. With more countries flexing their nuclear muscle – especially Russia – a more realistic strategy to manage nuclear arms is necessary. The West must fundamentally re-think means and ends.

ip journal

The new Saudi strategy shakes Russia, Iran, and Venezuela, but they are not its real targets

Since July 2014 the price of oil has been falling, and a new OPEC strategy pushed through by Saudi oil minister Ali Al-Naimi makes a reversal unlikely in the near future. OPEC felt obliged to defend its market share against US fracking firms and other “marginal producers.” The pain felt in Moscow, Tehran, and Caracas is an unintended – if not unwelcome – byproduct.

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2014 was a dispiriting year for peace and conflict resolution around the world, and the outlook is not much rosier, either. What does the past year tell us is going wrong? And what are the crises the international community will need to watch most closely in 2015?

2014 was a mind-boggling year, marking the start of profound changes in world affairs, but also in the way Berlin thinks about foreign policy. Part of this is the “Review 2014” process Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier launched earlier this year, inviting over 60 political observers, commentators, and think tankers from across the world to put their thoughts down on paper. IP JOURNAL offers a critical overview.

The terrorist attacks in Paris have demonstrated once more: intelligence services around the world are confronted with developments that hamper their performance or in fact question their usefulness. More resources are required, and if Germany really wants to play a bigger role on the world stage, the country has no choice but to beef up its intelligence work.

Britain is one of the United States' most important relationships, but Britain's position within the EU is central to its importance. A UK exit from Europe would weaken the geopolitical position of Britain and change the EU and Europe in ways which could be detrimental to US interests.

As traditional security policy is superseded by economic and energy interests, we must begin to discuss the “economization of security policy” – the implications of which go far beyond the current global financial crisis and its effects on the security policy of the West. One voice inside NATO describes what needs to be done to ensure that this commercialization of security will still allow the friendly member countries of NATO and the EU to avoid 21st century conflicts and to continue to act collectively.

New investments in China and the Middle East have demonstrated a developing strategic interest in renewable energies. Yet every country still faces obstacles: be it legislation in the United States or enforcement and rapid development in China. Kelly Sims Gallagher of the Fletcher School at Tufts University sits down with IP to talk about the future of energy policy and its effects on foreign relations.

Placing development under the aegis of the new E.U. diplomatic corps could foreshadow an upgrading of E.U. development policy. Yet critics warn that some countries may be rewarded for the right positions on E.U. security concerns while others, more deserving, may end up with less aid. The economic crisis is causing donors to backslide on commitments.

The dominant conflict in geopolitics in this century is the scramble for energy, raw materials, and water. The nationalism, colonialism and imperialism of the 19th century is back. Europe has to engage strategically in competition for scarce resources as the world population—and its energy demands—continue to grow.

The cold war’s non-proliferation regime is in disarray due to questions about civilian nuclear energy, doubts about verification, problems with states outside the NPT and the consequences of 9/11. A review of individual clauses of the treaty will not restore the integrity of the old system. Is the image of the NPT as a set of norms that transcend national interests really just a myth?

In spring 2005 the United States and Europe squared off over lifting the post-Tiananmen ban on military sales to China. Some argued that this dispute was evidence of a deteriorating transatlantic relationship. But the arms embargo debate is symptomatic of a broader and more fundamental set of challenges, including the rise of China and India, posed by globalization’s acceleration and how it has reshaped global security over the past 15 years.

Back when Lord Robertson was Secretary General of NATO he could accurately say that his priorities were “capabilities, capabilities, capabilities.” That no longer suffices. Enough interoperability to fight together on the battlefield is necessary. But so is a much broader strategic debate that goes beyond seeing NATO as just an instrumental provider of troops to give allies a chance to address fundamental questions.

Millionaire Osama bin Laden might not seem to face problems of revenues and cash flows in financing al Qaeda terrorism. But like any other multinational corporation, al Qaeda has to manage money efficiently in its worldwide operations. One of the ways to thwart terrorist attacks, then, is to curb the money laundering and other sources of illicit funds that make bombings possible.

Often enough in history, Catholics, Protestants, and Jews thought their religions divided them. But today believers are not crossing swords as much as expected on such hot-button issues as abortion. Non-judgmentalism and generic traditionalism offer some explanation for this.

The idea of the sea as a common, owned by all, has slowly been supplanted by the reality that the sea belongs to those who use it–mostly for financial gain. Why not give these fishermen ownership rights–and the responsibilities that go with them?

The endemic problems of failed and limited statehood–humanitarian catastrophes, pandemics, hunger, and underdevelopment–are no longer “just” the isolated problems of the so-called Third World. They directly affect the security and prosperity of the developed world.

Humanitarian intervention might be thought of as the first example of the global enforcement of human rights—contested, incomplete, uncertain, but still an example of something that has not existed until today. How far should we move beyond such humanitarian intervention? Do genocide (or famine) victms have a right to be rescued?